Florida’s warm climate attracts thousands of guests during the fall and winter months. Who doesn’t want to be able to go to the beach in November while much of the country is layered in snow? As winter changes into spring and our seasonal residents flee the rising temperatures, another guest threatens to take up residence in our homes… mold.
This unwanted house guest can damage equipment, destroy walls and floors, and negatively affect your health. Mold forms in as little as 72 hours, reproducing every 6 minutes. Below are some tips to help you prevent mold from growing in your home.
Tips for preventing a mold nightmare:
- Set your fan switch on your thermostat to auto. Humidity increases 10-15% when set to “on.”
- Set your thermostat to 75-80 degrees if you are leaving for a week or two in the summer.
- Make sure your Dehumidistat is set around 50% and your thermostat to 80° when leaving for vacation for longer than a couple of weeks.
- Have someone check your home. Make sure they understand what to look for and how to adjust your thermostat and Dehumidistat.
- Pay attention to your FPL bill; if there is a change in kilowatt usage, there is a reason.
- Have your air conditioning system serviced regularly. We are very familiar with servicing HVAC equipment for our snowbird customers. Most commonly, they will ask their homewatcher to open up their home for us to maintain their system while they are out of town.
Please remember, we are not mold remediation specialists here at Tri County Air. The tips above are guidelines and best practices that we suggest. There is always more that you can do to prevent mold from occurring in your home while you are away. We are not responsible for mold that may occur in your home.